Originally printed in the Tenby Times, this story by Nick Evans has been posted here in anticipation of the rescheduled Caldey Swim.

The 2017 Caldey Swim will now place on Sunday, August 20, weather permitting, with a shoal of around 100 swimmers set to make the 2.5 mile crossing to the mainland, raising funds for the RNLI. The event is organised by Tenby Sea Swimming Association, which still fondly remembers one of its founder members, the late John Evans, who lived in the Old Coastguard House on Castle Hill. His son Nick, an experienced surfer and open water swimmer, took part in last year’s Caldey Swim at the age of 70. As he writes on this page, it was not only a great experience for Nick, but a sentimental journey, as he recalled his family’s long connections with Tenby and the happy times he had spent in the town over the years.

James Truscott, a Cornishman and my great grandfather, started his jewellery business in Tudor Square, Tenby in 1870, later moving to premises at 13, High Street, on the corner of St. Nicholas Lane (now Santander bank). It was there that my grandmother, Mildred, was born and later, when her father retired, she and her husband Victor Solomon continued to run the family business.

Victor, having grown up in Australia, was an enthusiastic sea swimmer and he took my mother, Beryl (known as Bunnie), the eldest of their five children, swimming off the North Beach from a very early age. This was to have a profound and lasting effect. It was also to have a direct bearing on my participation in the 2016 Caldey Island Swim.

My mother had a very happy childhood in Tenby. It is hard to appreciate quite how much the town of Tenby and sea swimming meant to her. Indeed, she continued to swim in the sea as often as she could, wherever she could, for the rest of her life. Sadly, with the early death of my grandfather and the collapse of the business following a robbery, her family left Tenby in the late 1930’s. Soon after that my mother met my father, they were married and settled in Devon, close to my grandmother and the rest of her resettled family.

So, as children we were brought up in South Devon but Tenby was almost a second home. We had many holidays there, mostly staying with Marjorie, my mother’s best friend, her husband, Ivor Crockford and their three boys. Tenby’s beaches and trips to Caldey on Ivor’s boat were magical as a child. We had a strong bond with Tenby. it seemed entirely natural that I got engaged to Jan in Tenby, and we were there again on our honeymoon.

Despite regular trips back, my mother never got over leaving Tenby and her childhood friends. She certainly never expected to go back there to live but in 1970 she did. My father, John Evans, took on the role as Tourism Manager for the town (later Tourism Director for South Pembrokeshire) and they went back to my mother’s real home. I have never known my mother so happy and my father loved his new life there, too.

My father made quite an impact, both through his work and later by his voluntary activities in retirement. He initiated and had great success with ventures such as the Boxing Day Swim, Keep Tenby Tidy and Tenby in Bloom. Meanwhile, my mother was finally back with her old friends, especially Marjorie, her lifelong friend. To cap it all, my parents bought the Old Coastguard House on Castle Hill which had the most wonderful views imaginable. A few steps away was the Castle beach and the site of numerous swims for my mother. Jan and I and our daughter Catherine had the pleasure of being regular visitors to that house for many years.

The love of the sea, handed down from my grandfather to my mother in Tenby, was clearly passed on to me. My earliest memories are of diving off Goscar Rock and as a child I spent as much time as possible in the water. That continued and is just the same today. For most of my life, surfing has been the dominant force; it has strongly influenced my lifestyle for the last 50 years. There are few quality waves along the Atlantic coast of Europe that I have not surfed and with my parents in Tenby from 1970 I was fortunate enough to surf the then little known surf spots of Pembrokeshire regularly.

Six years ago, with more time available, I decided to test myself with some serious sea swimming. I was 65 that year and wanted a new challenge. It made sense, too, as this could help maintain

fitness during the summer months when the surf was often lacking.

So, I started in Cornwall, where I have now lived for more than 30 years, by taking part in the annual swim across the Camel estuary from Padstow to Rock. Despite the dreadful weather that day I really enjoyed the experience and decided to train for longer swims.

I now swim regularly with a wild swimming group and have taken part in many events in Cornwall, Devon and along the South Coast. Further afield, I swam across Lake Washington in the United States (on my way to surfing in Canada) in 2014. Indeed, it was a clash of dates with that trip to the Pacific North West that prevented me from completing the Caldey Swim that year. That was also the year that my father died, aged 99. It was important to me that he knew I was going to swim from Caldey to Tenby.

When I first heard about this now annual swim I knew I had to do it. I was accepted in 2014 but a subsequent change of date meant a clash with my booked holiday. I had to cancel and wait for the following year. In 2015 I was in Tenby for the event but this time it was cancelled through deteriorating weather conditions. So, would it be third time lucky?

It certainly was. Last year on August 14, the weather and sea conditions were almost perfect and the Tenby Sea Swimming Association

organised a very successful swim. Luckily, this time I was there!

A large group of us taking part were gathered on Castle Beach for the requisite group photo before boarding the small boats to take us to Caldey to begin the swim. As I stood there, in the sunshine on my mother’s favourite beach, I knew that this was going to be an epic swim in great conditions but it was also going to be something more. It would certainly be nostalgic. I would be tapping into a host of

lifelong memories concerning my swimming heritage, my family and Tenby.

I was 70 and although my parents had now gone they were somehow all around me in Tenby. I was on my mother’s favourite beach where she had swum so many times over so many years and looking up at their beloved house on the hill. I was surrounded by people with their own reasons for swimming and there was a general sense of excitement and anticipation. Photos taken, we found our way onto the boats waiting to take us to Caldey.

The trip out to Caldey gave us the chance to view the route of the swim, but in reverse. In order to swim effectively we needed to follow a ‘dog leg’ route back to Tenby harbour, initially swimming across the left-right current of the incoming tide and, having made sufficient distance across, we could then swim along the South Beach towards Tenby and the harbour.

We landed on the jetty at Priory Bay and made our way across the beach to gather for the pre-swim briefing. As usual, there was a lot of nervous energy amongst the 90 or so swimmers. Having acclimatised ourselves to the water, which was surprisingly warm, we lined up, adjusted goggles, etc., and prepared for the signal to start. This came and we rushed into the water, setting watches as we went.

As usual it was rather crowded at first but, with the shallow water of low tide deepening, we began to space ourselves out and each swimmer found his or her own speed.

I remembered to keep Giltar Point in my sights as I headed towards Penally. It seemed counterintuitive but the tidal flow meant that if we headed directly towards Tenby we would miss it altogether and be on course for Pendine! We had also been told to keep to the left of a large buoy before turning to swim north-west towards the town. Did I go around it? It is difficult to see much at all with your head down and easier to chase the coloured swim caps in front but in any case everything seemed to be going well and there were kayakers to make sure that nobody strayed off course too much.

The water was really pleasant, quite clear and ruffled by only the lightest wind. I was finally swimming from Caldey Island to Tenby! I had settled into a good, solid rhythm and was now enjoying every stroke as I started to see distant, familiar sights of Tenby from a completely new angle. Before long the Esplanade was to my left and then St Catherine’s Island loomed up ahead. I then swam between Sker Rock and the Island and you could feel the excitement mounting at this point. There were cheering crowds on the Castle Hill beyond and I was now getting close to the finish.

I felt that I was swimming well and could go further, perhaps carried along by the motivational crowd and growing sense of achievement. It was at this point that it became rather emotional. Swimming around Castle Hill, I was constantly looking up at what I had known for such a long time as my parents’ home. Each time I saw the house from a different angle and each time I almost expected to see them looking down at me. It was a surreal experience that seemed to go on much longer than it really could have done.

All of a sudden I was past the lifeboat station and swimming into the finish on the beach in front of the Pier. I stopped my watch, got to my feet and ran up the beach through the crowd. I spotted Chris Osborne, whose father was a friend of my father, then the Mayor hung a medal around my neck. I glanced at it, a beautiful colourful medal showing the route of the swim. A real memento. I was then greeted by my wife and I looked around at the sea of smiling faces. I knew it would be a wonderful event and it was. Everyone was happy.

Checking my GPS watch, it had taken me an hour and 15 minutes and I had completed 2.7 miles, longer than expected but such a great experience. Looking back at it now, one year on, it is clear that the Caldey Island to Tenby Swim was the most enjoyable swim that I have ever done. But of course for me it was not only a wonderful swim, it was an important sentimental journey.